This newest interactive outing will please Bizzy Bear’s fans and win him some new pint-sized admirers to boot.
Bizzy Bear and his bunny friend spend an exciting day in a dinosaur theme park.
Like the other successful titles featuring Bizzy Bear (Knight’s Castle, 2015, etc.), this one depends on catchy, singsong rhymes and interactivity produced by the strategic placement of sliders and pull-tabs to capture that most elusive of beasts—the toddler’s attention. The story follows Bizzy and bunny as they enter the park, follow some large footprints, feed some roughage to a cheerful-looking red dinosaur, watch a little pink creature hatch from an egg, and finally, enjoy some grub at the Dino Diner. Toddlers will no doubt enjoy being at the center of the action as they operate the easy-to-grasp pull-tabs and sliders to make the dinosaurs move about. The detailed, boldly colored digital illustrations are also cleverly designed to pique toddlers’ interest, and the short rhyming verses—while neither subtle nor sophisticated—serve to keep the story moving at a brisk pace. Companion title Space Rocket, also boasting an interactive element on every double-page spread, follows Bizzy as he leaves Earth in a rocket to explore outer space.
This newest interactive outing will please Bizzy Bear’s fans and win him some new pint-sized admirers to boot. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-8170-8
Page Count: 8
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.
One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.
It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Robin Corey/Random
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday.
Animal parents declare their love for their offspring in alphabetical order.
Each page displays an enormous capital letter, one line of verse with the keyword capitalized, and a loving nonhuman parent gazing adoringly at their baby. “A is for Always. I always love you more. / B is for Butterfly kisses. It’s you that I adore.” While not named or labelled as such, the A is also for an alligator and its hatchling and B is for a butterfly and a butterfly child (not a caterpillar—biology is not the aim of this title) interacting in some way with the said letter. For E there are an elephant and a calf; U features a unicorn and foal; and X, keyed to the last letter of the animal’s name, corresponds to a fox and three pups. The final double-page spread shows all the featured creatures and their babies as the last line declares: “Baby, I love you from A to Z!” The verse is standard fare and appropriately sentimental. The art is cartoony-cute and populated by suitably loving critters on solid backgrounds. Hearts accent each scene, but the theme of the project is never in any doubt.
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, but the syrupy sweetness will cloy after the holiday. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-2095-6
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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